wiring a music room

[BMiller]

I got lucky on the power side of things in my house. We bought our home, a 101 year old farm house that is now in the middle of town, a few years back. The place was remodeled 15 years ago. During that remodel, the owner (an electrician) had 200 amp service ran to the house and every single room has a dedicated 20 amp breaker. Power is clean, no noise, and outlets are everywhere! I don't know the mindset of needing to supply a bathroom or bathroom with 20 amp service, but it's nice to know that it's there if I need to run a drop cord!

However, when I first moved into my office/studio space, I had noise. The owner between the electrician and I had installed the rectangular Decorah outlets in some of the rooms of which included my space. I troubleshot my way through and discovered that someone must have been color blind as the hot and neutral were swapped. I had to properly terminate 15 or so outlets.

 

[László]

I got lucky on the power side of things in my house. We bought our home, a 101 year old farm house that is now in the middle of town, a few years back. The place was remodeled 15 years ago. During that remodel, the owner (an electrician) had 200 amp service ran to the house and every single room has a dedicated 20 amp breaker. Power is clean, no noise, and outlets are everywhere! I don't know the mindset of needing to supply a bathroom or bathroom with 20 amp service, but it's nice to know that it's there if I need to run a drop cord!

However, when I first moved into my office/studio space, I had noise. The owner between the electrician and I had installed the rectangular Decorah outlets in some of the rooms of which included my space. I troubleshot my way through and discovered that someone must have been color blind as the hot and neutral were swapped. I had to properly terminate 15 or so outlets.

You get 100% admiration from me for sleuthing that down!

 

[BMiller]

You get 100% admiration from me for sleuthing that down!

That was a fun one for sure. I guess that's just part of the fun of owning a house that is this old and has had different owners making different changes.

I still cant figure out how the doorbell works or where the transformer is! But that's a spring time project.....I want a Ring doorbell (camera type).

 

[Tucson Thump]

One of the biggest mistakes people make when wiring a new room for anything (den, living room, kitchen, studio, playroom...) is to underestimate the number of outlets needed and the total amperage.

1. Install 20amp circuits. The marginal cost over 15 amp circuits is negligible for the benefit. Use more than one, and alternate them along the wall.

2. Consider using the same “phase” for every circuit in the room. In the typical breaker box, that will be every other breaker vertically.

3. Install twice as many outlets as you think you need. Really.

4. Install quad outlets at each outlet location. Avoid plug-in 6 way extenders, especially ones with built in “filter and surge protection” like the plague.

5. Avoid fluorescent lights or anything with a transformer like tensor lights or turn them off when recording.

6. Spend as much on Les’ power conditioning tips above as you can afford.

My basement studio thread:
https://forums.prsguitars.com/threads/new-basement-studio.1413/

The voice of experience!

The room I use has three separate breakers on the outlets. It was just by chance.

 

[watelessness]

if you're wiring from scratch, use the 12 gauge wire and an 20-amp circuit. if you go with 15 amps you will kick yourself the first time you trip that breaker.

Also, use a dedicated circuit for your studio, as in, do not put anything else on that circuit, not even lights. If you want non-clean power in the room, use a separate circuits and use a different color outlet so that you can tell the difference.

I ran a line from the panel to a Furman RP-8L power conditioner, then, using some creative twistlocks, all the outlets are fed from the furman. This allows me to clean up the power but also to turn off all power to the studio with a single switch.